Awareness Towards Domestic Violence

Carlos Ramirez
The University of Texas at El Paso

Carlos Ramirez
Rhetoric and Composition 1301
Lori Whitaker
September 30, 2016

Awareness Towards Domestic Violence

Domestic violence advertisements. What are the reasons behind these advertisements?
What should one get out of these ads? Sure enough, anyone can see these pictures, yet the
number of the people who would actually stop and take the time to look carefully and analyze is
small compared to the number of people who would just take a quick glance at the ad and just
move on like domestic violence is not the big issue it actually is. Advertisements have something
to say, they are not just for decoration in a wall, a bulletin board, or to take up time on televisions
or radios, it is on the people to actually pay attention to what the ad is trying to say. What is the
intention of an ad is to get people involved in helping stop an world issue, hunger, war, poverty,
just to name a few, including domestic violence. The intention of this paper is to show how an
advertisement of domestic violence tries to tell people to be aware that domestic violence victims
should seek for help through the elements of ethos, pathos and logos
So first of all what is domestic violence? Domestic violence is known as violent of
aggressive behavior at home involving a couple or romantic partner, or in some cases in the
family. Domestic violence does not necessarily need to be physical aggression, it can also
include verbal or emotional aggression. Domestic violence statistics can in fact be pretty
shocking. Just in the United States alone, 20 people are abused by an intimate partner per minute,
equaling 10 million men and women per year, and every 9 seconds a woman is beaten in the
United States. While 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been victims of some sort of physical
violence by their partner in their lifetime, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men have suffered severe
physical violence by their partners in their lifetimes. It is not true that only women are victims of
domestic violence, many men are also victims of this epidemic, although it is not as common as
in women. While women in a homosexual relationship are less likely to suffer domestic violence

than women in a heterosexual relationship, men in a homosexual relationship are most likely to
suffer domestic violence than men in a heterosexual relationship. More shockingly, more than
20,000 phone calls placed to domestic violence are made in just 1 day. Domestic violence in
some cases may involve weapons as well. Weapons are involved in 19% of domestic violence
cases, but the worst part is that The risk of homicide is increased by 500% just with the presence
of a gun. Some of the states where there is the most domestic violence in the United States
include Maine, New Mexico, Texas, and Rhode Island, with Alaska being the state with the most
domestic violence in the United States.
The visual that is to be analyzed shows an abused woman trying to cover herself with
makeup so her bruises don't show. This is where the logos part of the analysis comes. Logos is
mainly concerned with the logic in an argument. What this visual, or advertisement is trying to
say is that we should be aware that domestic violence is an issue, that unfortunately many
women who suffer abuse from their male partner don't report. A quote in the advertisement says,
Because they cover it with white and gold, tying back to the famous white and gold dress that
based with ones emotion switched to black and blue. What this quote tries to say is that instead
of reporting the abuse they suffer, the black and blue of the dress, the bruises in their bodies, they
try to cover themselves with makeup, the white and gold of the dress, the bright side. The white
and gold shows that a woman is supposedly fine although in the inside, the black and blue,
everything is just bad, a situation that only gets worse in a womans life. The color of the
background is black, while the text is white, and the womans color is bright but because she is
not showing the side that shows she is a victim of domestic violence. The color black in this case
represents hiding, black is one of the colors that is to be hidden by the white. The propose of this

advertisement is for women who suffer domestic violence or know somebody who is a victim to
report it instead of covering the abuse.
The second part of the analysis is the pathos. What pathos mainly focuses on the emotion
and persons beliefs. This advertisement can cause different emotions. A big number of people
would feel pity for the women who suffer domestic violence when they see the ad. It is a
situation that women who don't suffer domestic violence not want to fall in that situation, after
all who likes suffering. Others may feel anger when seeing the advertisement, in some cases men
who are respectful of women. These men can get angry when they see or hear of a woman being
abused by their partners, these men would usually believe that it is not correct for a woman to be
hit or abused by a man, in other words, how is it possible for a man to hit a woman like she were
a man? A woman who suffers domestic violence may feel identified with the woman of the
advertisement, based on what the ad says about reporting the abuse they suffer, it may make
them feel that they would not feel alone, that they have someone who has their backs, that maybe
by reporting the abuse, their lives might be easier. After all, the intention of this ad is for the
abused women to feel that they are not alone, that by reporting their abuse help will come for
them. Also, this advertisement should make other people to feel they should help someone they
know whom is a victim of domestic violence. The color black in the background can cause
sadness, black is the absence of light or happiness.
The final part of the analysis is the ethos part. Ethos appeals to ethics and credibility. So
how can this advertisement, the visual be credible? A lot of times, famous celebrities appear in a
commercial or advertisement telling the people to buy a product or to get involved in a campaign
to help people in need, the poor for example. These celebrities may not necessarily use the
product they advertise, yet people believe them because they are famous. This visual though does

not include a celebrity, but it has to show credibility one way or another. In the advertisement,
the logo of The Salvation Army can be appreciated. So who is The Salvation Army? This
organization is an Christian international movement focuses on helping people in need by
distributing food, disaster relief, rehabilitation, in between other methods alone. In the United
States alone, their is 7,546 centers currently operating. The mission of this organization is to
preach Jesus Christs gospel in the Bible and to help meet the needs of people without
discrimination. The Salvation Army work is funded through kettle donations corporate
contributions, and the sale of goods donated to The Salvation Army centers across the nation. For
one dollar, eighty-two cents support the The Salvation Armys missions across the nation. So
how does The Salvation Army contribute the domestic violence issue? This organization joined
the viral debate of the dress where some see black and blue while others see white and gold. In
their domestic violence awareness ads, they show that many women try to cover the abuse they
suffer from their partners when they should be trying to get help instead.
In conclusion, domestic violence is an issue everybody should be aware of. It is hard for
many people to know the type of issue domestic violence is, and it is because many times,
victims hide what happens to them to themselves. In some cases, a family member or a friend of
someone may be a victim of domestic violence but unfortunately they are unaware of the issue
and many times they may be aware or the issue but when it is already to late. Careful, only
because a woman looks happy or has perfect makeup, she may not necessarily be happy in the
inside, she may be a woman who is hiding her bruises or her abuse from the people who
surround her. If a close one shows signs that she is a victim of domestic violence, report it,
maybe she needs the help more than what she thinks she needs. Reporting her abuse may save
her life in the long term.

Sources
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence-Statistics
Retrieved from
http://ncadv.org/learn-more/statistics
ONeill Megan, 2015, Salvation Armys Domestic-Abuse Campaign Playing on the Dress
Goes Viral Retrieved from
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Salvation-Army-s/228349
The Salvation Army- About The Salvation Army, 2016
Retrieved from
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/about